1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ who are at Colosse: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we always pray for you.
4For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love you have for all the saints.
5You have this faith and love because of the hope that is kept safe for you in heaven. You heard about this hope before, in the true message of the gospel.
6That gospel has come to you, as it has gone into all the world. It is bearing fruit, just as it does among you. This has been so from the day you heard it and truly knew the grace of God.
7You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ for you.
8He also told us about your love in the Spirit.
9So from the day we heard it, we have not stopped praying for you. We ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will, with all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
10Then you will live in a way worthy of the Lord and pleasing to him in every way. You will bear fruit in every good work, and grow in the knowledge of God.
11You will be made strong with all strength, by his glorious power, so that you can endure everything with patience and with joy.
12Give thanks to the Father. He has made us fit to share in what belongs to the saints in the light.
13He has rescued us from the power of darkness, and has brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son.
14In him we have redemption through his blood, that is, the forgiveness of sins.
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.
16For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, whether thrones, or lordships, or rulers, or powers. All things were created by him and for him.
17He is before all things, and by him all things hold together.
18He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that in all things he might be first.
19For it pleased the Father that all fullness should live in him,
20and through him to bring all things back to himself, having made peace by the blood of his cross. By him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
21Once you were far away from God. Your minds made you his enemies, and your works were evil. But now he has brought you back to himself
22in the body of his flesh, through death. He did this to present you holy, without fault, and with nothing to be charged against you in his sight,
23if you continue in the faith, grounded and firm, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel. You have heard that gospel, and it has been preached to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, have been made a servant of it.
24Now I rejoice in what I suffer for you. In my body I fill up what is still lacking of the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of his body, which is the church.
25I was made a servant of the church by the task God gave me for you, to make the word of God fully known.
26This is the mystery that was hidden for ages and generations, but now is made plain to his saints.
27God chose to make known to them how rich and glorious this mystery is among the Gentiles. The mystery is this: Christ in you, the hope of glory.
28We preach him. We warn everyone and teach everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ Jesus.
29For this I labour, struggling with all the strength he supplies, which works powerfully in me.